Even in the worst situations—a victim of a natural disaster, prisoner of war, the target of abuse, or when hit by a string of unfortunate circumstances—it is easier and natural to focus on what is lost. It could be a home, a relationship, security, freedom, or good health. When we experience adversity, and we all…
We can only improve what we observe and are aware of. So, knowledge of yourself is the most important type of knowledge—and provides the most fertile ground for self-growth. Knowing your own tendencies, preferences, natural gifts, and weaknesses helps you be more personally effective and, as a result, a more insightful and effective leader. You…
An exercise that encourages you and others is to share “strength stories.” During strength stories, team members share a verbal narrative about a time when they were at their very best. Have them conjure details of that time: what they were doing, who they were interacting with, what they accomplished, and how they felt. As…
Here are five truths about growth that we have identified during our many years of work: Change is inevitable, but growth is a choice. Change is omnipresent, but if we resist it, we may not grow from it. Real and sustained growth happens when we choose it. What gets watered grows. When we reinforce ourselves…
Before you show your team members compassion, you must first show them the most basic form of respect: acknowledging them and their perspectives. Simply acknowledging someone and their challenges can make things better even if it cannot make things right. Many well-intentioned leaders often fall short in this area. It’s not that they don’t want…
Words of gratitude can also change your world. Try this twist on a gratitude journal. Each day for the next two weeks, write three good things that happened and how you contributed. If you do the following gratitude challenge, you will experience positive benefits, including increased happiness and decreased depressive symptoms that can last up…
Another habit that healthy leaders adopt to demonstrate respect is one that is harder than it seems: listening effectively. Leaders who listen well make it a priority to listen first. They listen to understand rather than to respond. This allows them to truly discover what is important to the other person, which should in turn…
A business is not simply a collection of people doing individual tasks. The glue to any successful business is the way employees coordinate their work with others, communicate expectations and updates, collaborate on ideas to innovate, and share customer insights. Looking for the simplest way to perform job tasks to gain efficiency and maximize employee…
Seeing the human behind the employee starts with empathy and compassion. These are two fundamentally different but closely related concepts. Empathy is an awareness of others’ emotions and feelings. Compassion is an emotional response to empathy and creates a desire to help—it converts a feeling into action. A healthy leader taps into these two sides…
Healthy leaders choose to meet the needs of their teams first. When leading with love, the needs of others come before our own, and the team’s health and success are a healthy leader’s true measure of success. It reminds us of our son’s former high school football coach, Chris Cunningham, who preached this same leadership…
